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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25653163">Eternal and Artificial</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/delectum/pseuds/delectum'>delectum</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Rebel Zuko [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Avatar: The Last Airbender</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Rebel Zuko, References to Torture, Zuko (Avatar)-centric, and he really just needs a nap, iroh is an avatar fanboy, ozai banished zuko so the entire wani crew adopted him instead, the ‘zuko helping the avatar as a giant middle finger to his jerk dad’ au, zuko is living completely on spite at this point</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 02:08:55</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,252</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25653163</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/delectum/pseuds/delectum</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>After the fateful Agni Kai that changed Zuko’s life, Ozai never gives his son the quest to find the Avatar, banishing him from the Fire Nation with no hope of return. Without a purpose to life, Zuko takes revenge against his father the most spiteful way that he knows how: treason.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Iroh &amp; Zuko (Avatar), Jee &amp; Zuko (Avatar), Zuko &amp; The Wani Crew</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Rebel Zuko [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1859887</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>53</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>1119</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Eternal and Artificial</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Someone has spotted the Avatar in the Earth Kingdom,” Lieutenant Jee grimly announced early one morning as he entered Zuko's quarters without even bothering to knock. </p><p>Zuko, who had spent the previous night running over rooftops in an Earth Kingdom colony with a total of two hours sleep, looked up blearily at the announcement. The noodles that had been suspended halfway to his mouth slipped through his chopsticks and fell onto the floor mat with a dull splat, but neither of them paid it any mind.</p><p>“I’m sorry?” the former fire prince blinked, calmly placing his chopsticks on the mat and desperately wishing he could go back to bed.</p><p>It was way too early for this. </p><p>Jee calmly handed over a handkerchief to his captain and folded his hands behind his back once more. Zuko has insisted time and time again that there was no need to stand at attention but years in the navy had made the habit engrained in Jee. “The villagers from Gaipan passed along a message that the Avatar was seen traveling through their town with two other companions.”</p><p>Gaipan, Zuko thought, faintly recalling a small riverside village that they had liberated a few months previous. It had been overrun by fire nation soldiers before the crew of the <em>Wani </em>had managed to drive the soldiers out of the town. It’s people, a mix of Earth Kingdom citizens and Fire Nation colonists, had been eternally grateful and had vowed to help the war effort in any way they could.</p><p>At the time, Zuko had gracefully accepted their offer without expecting too much from the humble population. After all, they were villagers, not soldiers, and Zuko was reluctant to involve them in the violence of the war. But now, that offer apparently extended to include the Agni damned <em>Avatar</em> too. </p><p>The Avatar who had finally returned after a hundred years in hiding. They definitely could have used his help much, much sooner but it was enough to know that he finally showed up. </p><p>“It’s about time the old bastard showed his face,” Zuko muttered absentmindedly, and definitely did <em>not </em>see the way the lieutenant quirked his lips at the comment. </p><p>Jee cleared his throat and also his face of all expression. However, he couldn’t quite manage to hide the mirth in his eyes, “What are your orders, sir?”</p><p>Zuko stood up and walked over to his desk, studying the map that was laid out over the table and tracking over the plains and mountains with the tip of his finger. They were running low on funds, he thought with a frown, and definitely didn’t have enough for a detour chasing the Avatar blindly. </p><p>“We don’t even know where he’s going or where he is now. How long ago was this?” He asked without looking up from the map.</p><p>Jee handed over the folded letter. “This came via messaging hawk to our outpost just yesterday, Captain, but it could’ve been sent weeks ago. And I’m sure the Avatar moved onsome youths in the trees…?” He voiced hesitantly, eyebrows raising in disbelief and voice high in a questioning lilt.</p><p>Zuko growled lowly in the back of his throat and clenched his fist, “<em>Jet</em>.” Of course Jee wouldn’t remember the Freedom Fighters since they had never came in contact with the crew of the Wani as a whole, but Zuko definitely hadn't forgotten their leader.</p><p>When he had first ran into Jet in the forest near Gaipan, the other boy had ended up pinned to a tree with both dao at his throat. He had been impressed with Zuko’s swordsmanship and drive to end the Fire Nation rule, and invited him to join the Freedom Fighters.</p><p>He had felt some sort of mutual kindred to the other boy after seeing the impressive group of revolutionaries he had put together, but the admiration had instantly evaporated when he had caught on to Jet’s intense hatred of all things Fire Nation, no matter how innocent. </p><p>After that, Zuko had subtly backed up as soon as Jet’s back was turned and <em>noped</em> the fuck out of there before he could blow his cover and the cover of his crew.</p><p>It was only the meager traces of affection Zuko felt for him that had allowed Jet to walk away that day, even though he knew even then it would be a mistake. “I should have just dealt with him then,” Zuko sighed, running a hand through his hair in agitation. “Hopefully the Avatar got through to him.”</p><p>He looked up at the following bout of silence and noticed Jee looking even more confused. <em>Right, </em>he was still waiting for an answer. </p><p>“We’ll keep to our course,” Zuko finally decided, “We can’t afford to make any stops other than the ones we’ve already planned for. We’ll just have to pray that we run into the Avatar on the way.”</p><p>They had already survived three years of treason and desertion without the Avatar. They would survive more. </p><p>“Of course, sir. I’ll inform Helmsman Kyo,” the lieutenant bowed lightly, although he didn’t form the traditional flame with his hands as was customary. </p><p>These days, no one on the <em>Wani </em>bothered forming the flame at all, deeming it redundant and unnecessary when all of them were wanted for treason to some extent and also had varying bounties on their heads. </p><p>“Oh, and Lieutenant?” Zuko's dry voice stopped Jee before he could leave the room, “Has anyone informed my uncle? I’m sure he’ll be ecstatic at the news.”</p><p>Jee gave a quick grin. They both knew Iroh’s excitement at all things related to the spirit world, and that meeting the bridge between the two worlds was his dream.  “Not that I’m aware of, sir. I came to you as soon as I found out, but I’ll be sure to let him know.”</p><p>Zuko let out a breath, relieved that he wouldn’t be the one subjected to three hours of Iroh gushing about his obsession with the spirit world. Better to pass on that unfortunate task to some other poor, unsuspecting soul. </p><p>“Oh, that reminds me,” Jee smirked, a malicious glint in his eyes. “Your uncle wanted me to ask if you’d join us for music night. He was quite eager to hear you play the tsungi horn for us again.”</p><p>The former prince looked around his meager room to quickly find an excuse, letting out a triumphant huff when he caught sight of a stack of papers and held it up. “Unfortunately not, I have to work on the ship's finances tonight.”</p><p>“That’s a copy of <em>Love Amongst the Dragons,</em>” Jee deadpanned. </p><p>“No, it’s finance papers,” Zuko insisted stubbornly. </p><p>“Look,” Jee sighed and rubbed at his temples with pressure that was painful even just to look at. “Can you please just come to music night? If you aren’t there, Hanako will have to play the horn and I don’t think my ears will survive another night of that. My ears were bleeding last time and I’m sure Taka was right about ready to jump overboard to escape. Do you want to go fishing in these cold, dark waters for drunken sailors, sir? Because that will be you tonight if Hanako even comes near the tsungi horn.” </p><p>“I’m not going,” Zuko flopped down on his bed and flipped through the papers, hoping that if he ignored the lieutenant for long enough, he would just give up and leave. It worked wonderfully for a few seconds, in which Zuko had coincidentally flipped to one of his favorite pages and quickly found himself engrossed. </p><p>There was the sound of a throat clearing, and when that didn’t get a reaction, a hand tugged at his hair softly.</p><p>“I said no,” Zuko muttered, hand tightening over the papers and not wanting to admit that the fingers in his hair were almost putting him back to sleep. The long sleepless nights were catching up to him, he thought, and the warmth in the cabin didn't help the matter at all.</p><p>Jee didn’t bother saying anything in response, simply tugging at Zuko's hair again until he knew he would get an affirmative response. </p><p>“‘m not going to go,” said Zuko again, stubbornly. </p><p>The lieutenant snorted, “And risk breaking your poor uncle’s heart? I’ve heard these kinds of things are incredibly dangerous at his age.”</p><p>“Uncle’s younger than you are,” he mumbled back, squinting his eyes open in a half-hearted glare, “And I saw him take down six fire nation soldiers barehanded just last week, I’m sure he’ll be <em>fine.”</em></p><p>Jee wanted to retort <em>“I’m not that old, you brat” </em>for a grand total of three seconds, before his face lit up in a way that never meant anything good. “I’ll tell your uncle about the affair you had with the cute farm boy last time we docked ship!”</p><p>Zuko immediately shot up from his bed. “You <em>wouldn’t.”</em></p><p>“Watch me.”</p><p>“How did you even find out about that?”</p><p>Jee shrugged. “Word gets around.” He said simply, an infuriating answer that didn’t really answer anything at all.</p><p>Really, why in Agni’s name did he put up with these people?</p><p>Zuko growled, “Wh- <em>who else knows about that? </em>Ugh, fine, I'll come. Just don’t tell uncle or he’ll try to give me the sex talk <em>again. </em>Once was bad enough.”</p><p>The lieutenant similarly shuddered in sympathy, trying to forget the few, painfully awkward tidbits he had heard through the door before he had bolted out onto the deck. It must have been infinitely worse to hear it firsthand, especially when Jee knew Zuko had <em>definitely </em>had sex multiple times before and had a dirtier mouth than almost all the men on board. Jee was certain Zuko knew even more than Iroh about the subject. In fact, the only one who still believed he was a doe-eyed innocent boy was his uncle, and Zuko strove to keep it that way. </p><p>Jee let out a relieved sigh, and filed away the <em>‘cute farm boy’ </em>card to use the next time he wanted something from the captain. “Oh, thank Agni. You’re a lifesaver, sir, really! Just try not to get so drunk like last time.”</p><p>Zuko rolled his eyes, “I didn’t even drink anything last time.”</p><p>“You were<em> so </em>drunk! You bet Ming a single bowl of noodles that you could break into <em>and </em>escape Pohuai Stronghold. <em>For fun</em>. And you don’t even remember.”</p><p>“I remember perfectly,” Zuko drily said, although he was recalling the conversation with quite a bit of fondness. It really had been a great idea but they were simply too busy to take field trips into enemy grounds just for fun. “And I was completely sober at the time, thank you.”</p><p>He earned a gobsmacked look at the declaration, before Jee shook his head in disbelief and got up from the bed. “You're impossible, sir.”</p><p>The lieutenant stopped at the doorway and said, fondly, “You know we all love having you at music nights, sir, but it’s truly a shame that the only way we can get you to relax is to bully you into it.”</p><p>Zuko was so exhausted that he didn’t even bother getting angry. He felt like an armadillo bear had trampled all over him; he could only imagine how bad he looked. </p><p>His thoughts are confirmed a moment later when Jee went on to say, “We can tell you haven’t been sleeping. Get some rest, sir. We'll all feel better once we see that you’re doing better.”</p><p>The lieutenant waited a few seconds as if he was expecting an answer but when Zuko didn’t reply, he sighed and finally left. </p><p>As the door clanged shut behind Jee, he turned to the large stack of papers still on his desk. It was hard to rest when there was still so much to do, and Zuko had been fully prepared to tackle the rest of his tasks until Jee had had the audacity to tell him to rest. </p><p><em>Damn him for bringing up the rest of the crew, </em>Zuko thought annoyedly as he removed his outer robes and fell back into bed. </p><p>He knew that the crew needed to see their leader well rested and healthy to improve morale on the ship, and Jee knew full well when he brought it up that Zuko wouldn’t refuse an outright request from the Wani’s behalf. If getting some sleep was going to make them feel better, then who was he to argue?</p><p><em>Why do I even put up with these people? </em>was Zuko's last thought before he fell into dreamless sleep.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>***</p>
</div><p>“How are you not hungover?” Taka groaned the following morning at the communal dining hall, one hand over his eyes to block the sun’s rays.</p><p>Zuko shrugged nonchalantly as he popped another grape into his mouth. “Must be the royal blood in me,” He said dryly, feeling no sympathy at all for the other man. After all, it hadn’t been <em>his</em> idea to have music night dissolve into a drinking contest. And even if it was his idea, no one had any evidence to prove it. </p><p>Taka blinked one bloodshot eye open and gave him a dirty look for reminding them that the ex- prince of the Fire Nation sat across him and encouraged him to commit treason against his country. The crew didn’t like to talk about the fact that they were all committing mutiny, even though they were completely alright during the act of actually <em>carrying out</em> said mutiny. </p><p>No one said that Zuko's little ragtag group of ex-soldiers would be completely normal. After all they had gone through together, they deserved to have a few quirks. If pretending he<em> wasn’t </em>the banished prince of the Fire Nation made them feel better, then so be it. </p><p>Someone dropped a handful of scrolls on the table adjacent to Zuko, and he looked up to see his uncle excitedly pulling out a seat and flopping down onto it. </p><p>“Look, nephew!” There was a sheet of paper shoved in his face, so close that he couldn’t make out anything other than a few blurry scribbles. “Avatar Yangchen was of the theory that a good cup of tea was the key to excellent firebending. She said the best way to warm the chi is to drink a warm beverage. Who knew!”</p><p>“That’s great, uncle,” Zuko groused, subtly angling his head away from the scroll still uncomfortably close to his face.</p><p>“I wonder how this new Avatar will be,” Uncle rubbed a wizened hand over his beard, “I hear they are also from the Air Nomads, you know.”</p><p>“Yes, Uncle, I know.”</p><p>There were a few giggles and chortles from down the table, and Zuko turned to glare his crew mates into submission. No one heeded his warning, however. After years of living with them, no one quite feared his authority like they used to, knowing that Zuko was about as harmful to them as an angry turtleduck.  </p><p>Uncle pointedly ignored the ruckus the crew was causing, knowing and not caring how they viewed his interest in the Spirit World. It was more of a running joke on the ship that Iroh had made it his life’s goal to track down the Avatar, and Zuko, who had reluctantly found it funny as well, allowed the crew to have their fun as long as no one discouraged Uncle about his passion. </p><p>“I hope you know that we’re not going to be changing course,” Zuko gently informed him, to which he got an unconcerned hand waved in his direction. </p><p>“The red hermit crab will always find its way to the water, whether it is facing north or south,” Uncle replied cryptically, rummaging through his pile of scripts.</p><p>Still stifling a giggle, Ming slid a tray of food over to the elder man. “Here, have something to eat, General. I also made you some white jade tea.”</p><p>Uncle’s face lit up at the sight of a rare cup of tea, the only other thing that could make Iroh put aside his scrolls. “How can we ever repay your kindness, Ming?”</p><p>They ate breakfast in a similarly upbeat attitude, ex-princes and peasants and former prisoners eating together on the same table with no care for rank or status. There was something about treason that really brought people together, Zuko mused. </p><p>Lieutenant Jee came into the room a few minutes later with a frazzled look on his face. There was another sheet of paper clutched in his hand and the grim set to his mouth belayed bad news. “We may need to lay low for a while, sir,” he said, and the clamor in the dining hall immediately quietened. </p><p>“What is it?” Iroh asked, sitting up straight with no traces of mirth left in his body.</p><p>“It’s another letter from Gaipan. They said a Fire Nation Admiral came to the village looking for Avatar,” Jee looked up from the letter, the furrow between his eyebrows the only thing that betrayed his concern. Across the table, Taka cursed darkly and threw down his chopsticks. “From the sound of it, Zhao had a whole team put together just to track the Avatar. And he was said to be looking for someone else too. A rebel and traitor to the Fire Nation with a scar over his face.”</p><p>The old wounds over his back throbbed when Zuko heard the name. He shuddered, unable to forget the weeks he had spent underground in captivity the last time Zhao had caught up to him, shivering and starving and hurt. </p><p>From down the table, Zhang growled protectively. He hated the admiral just as much as Zuko did, or perhaps even more. </p><p>After all, it had been Zhang who had patched him up that day after they had found Zuko and brought him back, stitching up the torn skin on his back, dressing the burns and cauterizing the wounds that wouldn’t stop bleeding. The whole crew still had nightmares about it even though months had passed. </p><p>The Admiral had made it his life’s mission to capture the traitor prince, following their ship across the world in an attempt to bring Zuko back to his father. He had some misguided notion that by returning the rebel prince to the Fire Nation, he would gain the Firelord's favor and eternal glory. It was all a load of Komodo-rhino crap as far as Zuko was concerned. </p><p>He was sure Ozai would just be glad to finally have the chance to get rid of his failure son once and for all. </p><p>There was a warm hand on his shoulder. He turned to face Uncle, but found Iroh's eyes fixed firmly upon Jee, “We must avoid him at all costs. I fear that if we come upon him again, we will not be able to hold back.”</p><p>“Let him come,” Ming insisted darkly, promising violence. “I, for one, will be glad to take the bastard out of the way.”</p><p>Zuko felt warmed by their protective concern, feeling an overwhelming sense of love and compassion for his crew and knowing that they had his back. They would follow him anywhere. </p><p>“We’ll keep to our course,” he said softly but the hall still fell instantly quiet when he spoke, “and if we come across that Agni-damned man again, I’ll strike him down myself.”</p><p>There was a moment of silence, before Iroh got up from his seat, steel in his eyes. “I’ll get in contact with Jeong-Jeong and tell him to keep an eye out as well. We’ll be ready this time.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Next up! Zuko meets the Avatar and regrets his life choices</p></blockquote></div></div>
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